Best Travel Website

Overview
Colorado Springs is home to amazing attractions like Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods, The US Olympic Training Center, the Air Force Academy, The Broadmoor Hotel and much more. People flock to “The Springs” to experience nature at its best and enjoy the laid back lifestyle of Colorado. The old website didn’t show enough beauty and attractions, and people were not finding the content they desired. The bounce rate was 46%, page views and time spent was minimal. The website needed to better (and immediately) show the cool things about the city and quickly lead people to popular, quality content.
Goals
Increase visits and page views, reduce bounce rate. Increase organic Search Engine Referrals (not much of budget for paid), Visitor Guide requests and importantly, clicks to members (businesses) of the Colorado Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Target Audience
Leisure travelers – drive and fly markets, outdoor enthusiasts, families/moms; Event planners – reunions, meetings, sports.
Results
The new site went live Nov 7, 2013. Year-over-year quantitative comparisons show:
32% increase in visits; 51% increase just from organic
19% increase in page views; 39% increase just from organic
-30% decrease in bounce rate; -36% decrease just from organic
209% increase in Visitor Guide requests
285% increase in member clicks (clicks to COS business from the website)

Contributors:

VP Marketing & Partnerships, VisitCOS:	Amy Long
CCO, USDM:	Clifford Ward
Manager, Web Dev, USDM:	Jason Hays
Web Developer:	Jay Posten
Manager Analytics, USDM:	Carrie Heitzenrater
Manger, SEO, USDM:	Robin Bryant
Web Developer, USDM:	Eddie Geis
VP Technology,USDM:	Loren Reis
UX Design/Information Architecture, USDM:	Michael Tinglin

USDM.NET

Location: USA